Chile's 2002 census reported a population of 15,116,435 people. Its rate of population growth has been decreasing since 1990, due to a declining birth rate.[4] By 2050 the population is expected to reach approximately 20.2 million people.[5] About 85% of the country's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in Greater Santiago. The largest agglomerations according to the 2002 census are Greater Santiago with 5.6 million people, Greater Concepción with 861,000 and Greater Valparaíso with 824,000.[6]

According to the 2010 revison of the World Population Prospects the total population was 17,114,000 in 2010, compared to only 6,082,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 22.1%, 68.6% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 9.3% was 65 years or older .[7]

Chile is a multiethnic society,[8] home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Studies on the ethnic structure of Chile vary significantly from one another.

An autosomal DNA study from 2014 found out Chile to be 44.34% (± 3.9%) native American, 51.85% (± 5.44%) European and 3.81% (± 0.45%) African.[9][10]

A public health book from the University of Chile states that 30% of the population is of Caucasian origin; Mestizos with an average 60% Caucasian ancestry and 40% Native American ancestry are estimated to amount a total of 65%, while Native Americans (Amerindians) comprise the remaining 5%.[11] A genetic study by the same university showed that the average Chilean's genes are 64% Caucasian and 35% Amerindian.[12]

UNAM professor of Latin American studies, Francisco Lizcano, in his social research estimates that a predominant 52.7% of the Chilean population can be classified as culturally European, with an estimated 44% as Mestizo.[13] Other social studies put the total amount of Whites at over 60 percent.[14] Some publications, such as the CIAWorld Factbook, state that the entire population consist of a combined 95.4% of "Whites and White-Amerindians", and 4.6% of Amerindians. These figures are based on a national census held in 2002, which classified the population as indigenous and non-indigenous, rather than as White or Mestizo.[15]

Despite the genetic considerations, many Chileans, if asked, would self-identify as white. The 2011 Latinobarómetro survey asked respondents in Chile what race they considered themselves to belong to. Most answered "white" (59%), while 25% said "mestizo" and 8% self-classified as "indigenous".[16] A 2002 national poll revealed that a majority of Chileans believed they possessed some (43.4%) or much (8.3%) "indigenous blood", while 40.3% responded that they had none.[17]

Chile was never an attractive place for migrants simply because it was far from Europe, and the difficulty of reaching such a remote place,[18][19] a situation recognized in the census of 1907, census which recorded the highest percentage of Europeans versus the total population of Chile (2.2%).[20]

The observed increase in 1885 is due in large part to the annexation of three provinces after the Pacific War and the final conquest of the Araucanía. Given that our country receives almost no foreign immigration, this increase is significant, when compared with that of more advanced countries in this regard. The comparative table that follows demonstrates this:

(...)

Except for those lucky countries that have seen in the last half century flocking to its beaches, a huge influx of immigrants, a situation that unfortunately is not ours, the rate of increase of the population of Chile, figures honorably between the rate of the most prosperous countries on Earth.

— National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas)[20]

The European migration did not result in a remarkable change in the ethnic composition of Chile, except in the region of Magellan.[21]

The Spaniard was actually the only relevant among European immigration to Chile,[18] since there was never a massive immigration, as happened in neighboring nations such as Argentina or Uruguay.[19] Therefore, neither have whitened the Chilean population to level of overall percentages.[19] Facts about the amount of the flow of immigration do not coincide with certain national chauvinistic discourse, in which Chile, like Argentina or Uruguay, would have been constituted due to immigration in one of the "white" Latin American countries, in contrast to what prevails in the rest of the continent.[19] However, it is undeniable that immigrants have played a role in Chilean society.[19] Between 1851 and 1924 Chile only received the 0.5% of the European immigration flow to Latin America, against 46% of Argentina, 33% of Brazil, 14% of Cuba, and 4% of Uruguay.[18] This was because most of the migration occurred across the Atlantic, not the Pacific, and that this migration occurred mostly before the construction of the Panama Canal.[18] Also, Europeans preferred to stay in countries closer to their homelands instead of taking that long tour across the Straits of Magellan or crossing the Andes.[18] In 1907, European-born reached a top of 2.2% of Chilean population,[22] it down to 1.9% in 1920,[23] and 1.6% in 1930.[24]

The largest contingent of people to have arrived in post-independence Chile came from Spain and the Basque country, a region divided between northern Spain and southern France. Estimates of the number Chileans who have one or two surnames from Basque origin ranges from 10% (1,600,000) to as high as 20% (3,200,000).[25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Note that this phenomenon occurs not only in Chile, but also in every Autonomous Community of Spain,[32] as well as in other Latin American countries one can see that a substantial portion of their populations have one or two surnames of Basque or Navarre origin,[33][34][35][36][37][38] tending to be more common in the upper classes, and hence becoming more unusual in lower classes.[39]

In 1848 an important and substantial Germanimmigration took place, laying the foundation for the German-Chilean community.[40][41] Sponsored by the Chilean government for the colonization of the southern region, the Germans (including German-speaking Swiss, Silesians, Alsatians and Austrians), strongly influenced the cultural and racial composition of the southern provinces of Chile. It is difficult to count the number of descendants of Germans in Chile, given the great amount of time. Because many areas of southern Chile were sparsely populated, the traces of German immigration that are quite noticeable. An independent estimate calculates that about 500,000 Chileans could be descendants of German immigrants.[42]

Other historically significant immigrant groups included Croats, whose descendants today are estimated at 380,000 persons, or 2.4% of the Chilean population[43][44] Some authors claim that close to 4.6% of the Chilean population must have some Croatian ancestry.[45] Over 700,000 Chileans (4.5% of the Chilean population) may have British (English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh) forebears.[46] Chileans of Greek descent are estimated to number between 90,000 and 120,000;[47] most live in or near either Santiago or Antofagasta, and Chile is one of the five countries in the world most populated with descendants of Greeks.[48] The descendants of Swiss immigrants add 90,000,[49] and it is estimated that about 5% of the Chilean population has some French ancestry.[50] Between 600.000 to 800.000 Chileans descend from Italian immigrants. Other groups of Europeans have followed but are found in smaller numbers, as the descendants of Austrians[51] and Dutchmen it is currently estimated at about 50,000.[52][53] Altogether, these immigrants with their descendants, they have transformed the country culturally, economically and politically.

The 1907 census reported 101,118 Indians, or 3.1% of the total country population. Only those that practiced their native culture or spoke their native language were considered, irrespective of their "racial purity."[54]

According to the 2002 census, only indigenous people that still practiced a native culture or spoke a native language were surveyed, and 4.6% of the population (692,192 people) fit that description. Of that 4.6%, 87.3% declared themselves Mapuche.[55] Most of the indigenous population show varying degrees of mixed ancestry.[56]

Chile is one of the twenty-two countries to have signed and ratified the only binding international law concerning indigenous peoples, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989.[57] It was adopted in 1989 as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169. Chile ratified the convention in 2008. In November 2009, a court decision in Chile, considered to be a landmark ruling in indigenous rights concerns, made use of the ILO convention 169. The Supreme Court decision on Aymara water rights upholds rulings by both the Pozo Almonte tribunal and the Iquique Court of Appeals, and marks the first judicial application of ILO Convention 169 in Chile.[58]

In recent years, Chile has had a growing East Asian population, mainly from China (see Chinese Chilean), but also from Japan (see Japanese Chilean) and South Korea (see Koreans in Chile). The earliest wave of East Asian immigration took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly Chinese and Japanese contract laborers.

Chile administers Easter Island a territory 4,100 km west of the mainland. The Rapa Nui people are native to the island and are Polynesian in origin. About 3,500 live on the island,[68] but around 10,000 came to the mainland in the 20th century.[citation needed]

There is a sizable population of Romani people in Chile. They are widely and easily recognized, and continue to hold on to their traditions and language, and many continue to live semi-nomadic lifestyles traveling from city to city and living in small tented communities.[citation needed]

Since the reestablishment of democracy in Chile, the former tendency for emigrants from the country to outnumber immigrants to it has reversed. Chile now is one of the two countries in Latin American with a positive migration rate.[69]

Today, the principal immigrant groups correspond to the countries bordering Chile. Argentines constitute the largest group, followed by Peruvians. One of the main factors contributing to such immigration has been the growth of the Chilean economy during the past few decades. Immigration from other Latin American countries has also occurred.

According to the 2002 report of the International Organization for Migration, more than 10,000 people from the United States have emigrated to Chile. Most of these arrived in Chile initially to work for multinational corporations. Most possess professional degrees, and most are well situated economically.

The Spanish spoken in Chile is distinctively accented and quite unlike that of neighbouring South American countries because final syllables and "s" sounds are dropped, and some consonants have a soft pronunciation. Accent varies only very slightly from north to south; more noticeable are the small differences in accent based on social class or whether one lives in the city or the country. That the Chilean population was largely formed in a small section at the center of the country and then migrated in modest numbers to the north and south helps explain this relative lack of differentiation, which was maintained by the national reach of radio, and now television, which also helps to diffuse and homogenize colloquial expressions.[70]

There are several indigenous languages spoken in Chile: Mapudungun, Quechua, Aymara and Rapa Nui. After the Spanish invasion, Spanish took over as the lingua franca and the indigenous languages have become minority languages, with some now extinct or close to extinction.[71]

German is spoken to a great extent in southern Chile,[72] either in small countryside pockets or as a second language among the communities of larger cities.

Through initiatives such as the English Opens Doors program, the government made English mandatory for students in fifth-grade and above in public schools. Most private schools in Chile start teaching English from kindergarten.[73] Common English words have been absorbed and appropriated into everyday Spanish speech.[74] Since 2010, all students from 3rd grade in secondary school have been tested on listening and reading comprehension for English language. The evaluation is compulsory and the instrument is TOIEC Bridge, developed by Educational Testing Service.

According to the Chilean census held in 2012, the population of Chile was 16,634,603.[77]

The methodology used for the census was questioned by advisors to the National Statistics Institute (INE), however, which led to an investigation and the resignation of its director, Francisco Labbé, in April 2013. At the same time, the Chilean government ruled out doing the census over again.[77][78]

This list includes conurbations and cities with over 150,000 inhabitants. Information is from the 2002 census. (Note: The population given is limited to the city area and is not the population in the whole commune.)[79]